


Cocktails

by mutedbyfear



Category: Kane (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-07
Updated: 2012-06-07
Packaged: 2017-11-07 05:22:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/427324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mutedbyfear/pseuds/mutedbyfear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The story of how the boys met - with a fair amount of truth in there....</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cocktails

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Melodious329](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melodious329/gifts).



> I wrote this for Melodious329 for her birthday. I think she's still choking on the 'go for cocktails' line, which is one of the true parts........

Steve stood on the driveway with a package in his hand just staring at the door and not really understanding the churning feeling in his stomach. He'd been delivering scripts now for a few days and met a few people he recognised from the TV so he had no idea why this particular delivery was making him so nervous. He looked again at the name on the parcel - Christian Kane – no, it still didn't mean anything to him. He stepped forward and knocked on the door, turning around to check that he'd locked his car as he waited for an answer. As he turned back around he heard the door open and took a sharp intake of breath as he looked into the most incredible blue eyes that he'd ever seen

He stood there mesmerised for what seemed like hours but was probably only a few seconds in reality before he realised that the owner of the blue eyes was talking to him. He shook his head slightly to clear the fog that was forming there and apologised.

“Sorry man, I was miles away….ummm are you Mr Kane'?”

 

Blue Eyes started laughing at that, the fine lines around those eyes crinkling in a way that was making Steve feel way too hot under the collar for this time in a morning.

“Well, Mr. Kane would be my Daddy but if you're looking for Christian then you've come to the right place.”

Christian went to shake Steve’s hand and Steve silently prayed that his palm wasn’t sweating too much

“Umm, I’m Steve and I got a script that I need you to sign for.”

 

Steve looked up at Christian wondering if he too was experiencing the same turmoil of emotions he was. His mom had always told him when he met his soul mate he would just know and, well, from the way his heart was beating and his head swimming, this appeared to be just that moment. What was shocking Steve more than anything was it seemed his soul mate was a guy; he’d long known he was bi-sexual but he always just assumed that ‘the one’ would be female and when he settled down it would be as a traditional family. God, he needed to shake himself out of this, he hadn’t said more than a handful of words to this guy and already he was thinking far too much about the future. And Christian was talking to him again.

“Sure come on in, have a drink with me and then I’ll sign for it.”

“I’d love to, dude, but I’ve got more scripts to deliver.”

Christian laughed again “Did anyone tell you that until last week I was doing your job? I know how it goes, you got time… so like I said, come have a drink with me and you can help me celebrate my first acting role.”

Christian stood aside, opening the door wider as though there were no question that Steve would comply with his request.

“You’re kidding me right? You did this job. They told me the last guy quit but I didn’t know why.”

Steve glanced around the living room they’d just walked into, bemused when he saw nothing but a TV in the corner, a stereo system with several CDs scattered on the floor around it and two giant cushions. Christian saw him looking around and shrugged his shoulders as he gestured to the almost empty room.

“Sorry there’s no chairs; I can barely afford the rent here so the furniture has to wait till I get my first pay check. I ran out of money after I bought a bed and a fridge. Good thing I got the part when I did though, was thinking I was gonna have to get a roommate.”

“Yeah, you wanna avoid that if you can, mine’s a pain in the ass – I’d love somewhere on my own."  
Steve replied as he followed Christian toward the kitchen.

As he reached the kitchen he was stunned to see an acoustic guitar propped against the counter – and he knew enough about guitars to know it wasn’t a cheap one, he was just hoping that it wasn’t merely an expensive decoration

He’d been playing guitar in bands for over a decade now and he was in the process of putting together a new band of his own at the moment. Recently all he’d been listening to was southern rock and he and his friends had spent many evenings in the last few weeks jamming to Lynryrd Skynyrd and The Eagles into the early hours; now he was itching to get a new band together.

“So you play then, man?” he asked Christian, nodding in the direction of the guitar.

“A little, I can kinda strum along but really I’m a singer. The part I just got is as a country singer and they’re giving me guitar lessons too, the studio sent the guitar yesterday. Why, d’ya play?”

Steve grinned, now they were onto a subject he could talk about all day and really could this be any more like fate was for once dealing him a winning hand? The one thing he was missing for his band was a singer, so maybe Christian would be interested

Twenty minutes later, having discussed their favourite music and films and having given Christian an impromptu lesson in chords, Steve glanced at his watch and regretfully realised that he was going to have to get back to work.

“Look man, this has been cool but I gotta get back to work.”

Christian looked crestfallen, he’d obviously been having as good a time as Steve.

“So Steve, you wanna get together again sometime?”

Steve’s heart was beating so hard he was sure Christian would be able to see his chest rising and falling, was he serious? Of course he wanted to get together again but he didn’t want to appear too eager.

“Yeah sure, we should go get cocktails, how about Friday? Ten at Lolas?.”

He saw Christian getting out paper and a pen from the kitchen drawer before writing something down. He then handed the paper to Steve with a grin on his face.

“Sounds perfect to me – that’s my pager number in case…. Well, in case you can’t make it for some reason.”

Ripping the bottom off the piece of paper, Steve wrote down his own pager number and handed it to Christian, unable to keep the big smile off his own face.

“I’ll be there, no question, but have my pager number too….you know, just in case.”

**********************************************************************

“What an ass, I can't believe he didn't turn up,” Steve muttered to no one in particular as he checked his pager again, disappointment bubbling up when he saw the display was empty. He was so sure Christian was going to show, convinced they'd made such an incredible connection in just half an hour, he'd already been planning to invite him to the Cinco de Mayo party he was having the following weekend. He'd promised himself he wasn't going to fall for someone so hard and so quickly again. His heart and his ego had been well and truly trampled on last year and his naturally laid back and romantic soul had been crushed by one too many guys who promised him the world but in reality wanted nothing more than a night or two of fun.

Deep down he knew they were selling him a line but he'd craved affection so much since his last relationship finished that he'd accepted it far more than he was really comfortable with and recently he'd indulged in more one night stands than he knew was healthy for him. Christian had seemed different from the others though, he couldn't explain how, it was just a feeling he'd had. And now he was sitting in a bar where the music was too loud, waiting for this guy he'd talked to for half an hour a few days back and who was increasingly looking like a no show. Perhaps he'd been too casual about this? He thought they had a date but maybe Christian thought Steve was going to be here with friends and he'd just been invited along to join them. Maybe he didn't think it would matter if he showed or not.

He fingered the folded piece of paper in his pocket; it had Christian’s pager number on it so he could just page him, leave a casual message, ask if he was coming or not. Nothing that sounded too desperate, just in case he had got the vibes wrong but enough to let him know he was disappointed Christian hadn't showed. And was half an hour even really classed as late? None of his friends would probably think so; it just seemed like an eternity to him because he'd been excited and actually arrived early for a change. Ten more minutes and then he'd call Christians pager because forty minutes was definitely enough time to classify as late in his book.

He called the bartender over and asked her to change a couple of bucks into quarters and when she handed them over, he started stacking the quarters on top of one another in an attempt to kill some time. Then he took to making sure they were all facing heads up and then flipped them all until they were all tails up. Honestly, what the fuck was he doing? This guy had him tied up in so many knots and all they'd done was talk a little about the film industry and music. Steve had been surprised to see the guitar leaning up against the kitchen counter and even more surprised when Christian had started strumming it and singing in a wonderful, whiskey-soaked voice. That was the moment Steve thought the stars had aligned to somehow bring them together because he was trying to form a band and, much as he loved singing and was told he had a good voice, it wasn't right for the type of music he wanted to play. Already in his mind he'd begun to think of songs they could cover and he even had an original song he'd started that he could almost hear Christian singing. But of course now, Christian had stood him up and his plans to try and get Christian to jam a little at his party appeared to be shot.

He felt his pocket vibrating, and, realising that his pager had a message, he was up and off the stool heading for the pay phone even before he'd looked at the display. He had to wait for the guy in front of him to finish arguing with his girlfriend and he shifted nervously from foot to foot as he waited but it was only a minute or two before he was able to call his pager service and pick up his message. Relief flooded through him as he picked up a message from Christian who was waiting in a different bar and wondering where he'd got to and who definitely sounded like he thought this was a date. He stopped a girl going past and borrowed a pen so he could write the number of the bar down, phoned Christian back and a few minutes later he was headed out the door and into his car to drive the half mile or so to where Christian was waiting.

He'd sounded nervous on the phone which surprised Steve, he'd given off such an air of confidence the other day, so he was obviously a better actor than his lack of roles would suggest. Steve’s hands were shaking as he pulled out of the parking lot and he decided there and then that his car was staying at Lolas and he’d get a cab home because serious amounts of alcohol were going to be needed to get him through tonight. As he drove, he fumbled around in the car side pockets, eventually coming up with some gum to try and cover up a little of the smell of nervous chain-smoking left lingering on his breath.

This felt like one of those pivotal moments, one you look back on and think 'that's when my life changed’. Steve didn't know quite why he felt that way but his mom had taught him to trust his instincts and grab hold of every opportunity that presented itself so that's what he was doing. In fact, he'd already told his mom about meeting Christian and now it was beginning to dawn on him what her knowing smile had been about. She'd obviously been able to sense there was something different about Christian.

********************************************************************************************************************

Christian looked up at the clock for probably the fifteenth time in as many minutes. At fifteen minutes late, he’d been willing to blame it on traffic or not finding a parking space but Steve was now a full half hour late and in his book that meant he’s been stood up. Jeez, what an asshole……

But still he was willing to give him a little while longer because he’d had such a great feeling about this; a feeling that he couldn’t quite place. There was a connection there, the kind of connection he’d been looking for ever since he packed up his truck and headed out to Hollywood in search of his particular brand of the American Dream. He didn’t even know what that connection was – friendship, maybe something more – but when he’d looked into Steve’s eyes, something had hit him like a bolt out of the blue and he couldn’t help but think he was staring right into his future.

So did he just shake off that feeling or did he pursue it and if he got blown off then just put it down to experience? He didn’t even know if this was supposed to be a date – all Steve had said was they should meet for cocktails. Was that asking him on a date or was that just Hollywood speak for getting a drink with a friend? He just felt like it should be a date.

Sighing he reached into his wallet and pulled out the piece of paper Steve had written his pager number on, before asking the bartender where the phone was. The bartender indicated the corridor out by the bathrooms and Christian pushed himself off the stool and headed that way, checking his jeans pocket for quarters as he went. Feeding the quarters into the phone, he punched in the number for Steve’s pager and waited for the automated voice telling him to leave a message.

‘Hey Steve it’s Christian, I thought we were meeting at Lolas at 10. And it’s like 10.30 now… so… ummm…. Let me know if I got it wrong. The number of the phone here is 213-555-8721. So… ummmm….hope to hear from you soon…..ummm yeah, well call me…. ummm see you.’

‘Way to be cool Christian,’ he mentally berated himself. He’d got the first part of the message about right – casual and cool – and then turned into dorky country boy at the end. What was it about this guy that was making him feel this way? He’d give him a while to return the call here and if he didn’t call, then he’d head back home and hope he paged him back at some point.

As he stood there trying to decide whether to buy another drink or not, he realised the payphone was ringing – wow, his stomach was flipping at the thought that this might be Steve calling him back.

“Hello?”

“Christian, that you? It’s Steve.”

Christian’s stomach flipped even more at the sound of Steve’s voice and he closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the wall in front of him.

“Hey Steve, yeah it’s Christian. It’s loud there, I can hardly hear you, where the fuck are you?”

“I’m at Formosa Cafe thought that’s where we were meeting, was beginning to think you stood me up.”

Christian’s heart leapt a little at that, it certainly sounded like Steve considered this a date.

“Well hell, I thought we were meeting here and I thought you’d stood me up,” Christian returned with a hint of shyness creeping into his voice.

He allowed himself to breathe a little easier now and listened as Steve made a suggestion.

“So you want me to come to you or are you coming here? Its sounds quieter there, be easier to talk.”

Christian smiled; having quiet to talk was making this sound more and more like a date by the minute.

“I’ll wait here for you then… looking forward to it…”

‘Oh hello dorky country boy again,’ Christian berated himself again, gently banging his head against the wall.

“Me too Christian, I’ll be there in twenty.”

Christian exhaled slowly as he heard the click of the phone being replaced at the other end of the line. So now he had twenty minutes to get back a little of the ‘up and coming actor’ vibe Steve had seen a few days ago. Well, hanging up the phone instead of standing here by the bathroom listening to the dial tone like a love sick teenager might be a good start.

He felt around in his pockets for his tin of chew; he knew some people found it a disgusting habit but he needed to be calm when Steve arrived and this was one sure fire way to calm him down. And besides, was it really any worse than smoking? He was pretty sure he’d smelled smoke on Steve back at the house the day he’d delivered the script. Nevertheless, after he’d spat the chew out, he popped a piece of gum in his mouth – after all he was really hoping that he might get a chance to kiss Steve come the end of the night.

With another five minutes until Steve was due to get here he guessed he should get himself another drink and sit somewhere he could be spotted easily. He made his way back to the bar and ordered up a Miller Lite– he wanted something a little stronger to settle his nerves but he’d already had two shots of Jack and the last thing he wanted was to be on his way toward wasted when Steve arrived.

As he glanced up and looked toward the door, it felt like his entire world had stopped for a moment or two and he almost forgot to breathe. There was Steve, eyes darting around the bar, looking for him. And honestly, Christian thought he’d never seen a more beautiful man in his life. Steve was dressed in faded blue jeans, sneakers that looked like they’d seen better days, and a pale paisley shirt left loosely buttoned over a dark blue ribbed wife beater;. There must be at least half a dozen necklaces around his neck and a single silver hoop was in his right ear, his hair looked like he’d got straight out of bed and headed out without combing it. He was breathtakingly gorgeous and it was all Christian could do to stop himself going over and running his fingers through his unruly hair. Instead he forced himself to stay sat where he was and raised his hand in greeting, grinning when Steve spotted him and made his way over.

Christian stood up and extended his hand out to shake Steve's but Steve had other ideas and pulled him into a hug, brushing his lips against Christians ear as he did so, invoking an involuntary shudder down Christian’s back. Oh boy, this was going to be an interesting night.

"Hey man, sorry about the mix up- I don't know how that happened but it’s all OK now, right?"

Without giving Christian a chance to answer, Steve continued talking, “So dude, I know we said cocktails but we've wasted an hour so why don't we move onto shots? Tequila OK with you? Hey two tequilas here, thanks."

And with that, Steve put ten bucks on the bar, removed a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and offered one to Christian- which he declined with a shake of his head-before lighting one up himself.

Christian was beginning to feel like he was caught up in the eye of a storm, with no control over what was happening to him, but actually he was liking the feeling too much to want to get out of this particular storm. He must have looked a little shell-shocked though as Steve immediately sat down next to him and grinned broadly.

"Sorry man, I'm just a little hyped and I've really been looking forward to tonight and ...I'm talking too much aren't I?" Steve finished with a laugh.

Christian laughed back at him.

"Just a little! You were just so laid back the other day, I was expecting that guy to walk through the door, not a guy who.. .. hell I don't know, but you ain't what I was expecting."

"That a good thing or a bad thing?"

Steve asked, throwing the tequila shot back and at the same time throwing a twenty down on the counter.

" Two more, thanks."

Christian raised his shot of tequila in a toast to Steve before taking the shot, wincing slightly as the bitter taste hit the back of his throat.

"Oh, I'm thinking it's a good thing. I can see you and me are gonna have a lot of fun together"

 

**************************************************************

 

It was around one am when they were finally ushered out of the bar, and neither of them could walk straight by then. The bartender had called a cab before showing them the door so now they just needed to hang around outside and wait for it to arrive. Steve lit up a cigarette and Christian got out his tin of chew again; Christian saw Steve staring at him as he put the chew in his cheek.

“You really are a cowboy aren't you?” Steve said with a chuckle.

"Yes sir, I guess I am, my daddy even rode at the rodeo and met my mama there. That gonna be an issue for you?''

Christian's southern drawl had a teasing, almost challenging, tone to it, the result of several hours of drinking and a slow buildup of arousal. By way of answer Steve strode over to Christian and placed one hand on the back of his neck, then pulling Christian close and kissing him gently on the lips. Stopping briefly, he looked into Christian’s eyes and seeing nothing but acceptance there he carried on, this time using his tongue to part Christian’s lips and slowly probe inside his mouth, tasting tobacco and tequila as he did so. He couldn't stop himself from kissing Christian harder and pushing him up against the wall behind him and this time when he stopped and looked into Christian’s eyes he could barely see the blue, so deep was Christian’s lust.

This would usually be Steve’s cue to drag whoever he was kissing into the alleyway down the side of the bar but Steve found himself in the strange position of not wanting to do that with Christian, of not wanting the night to end that way. He didn't want a fast fuck or quick blow job with this guy, he wasn't even sure he wanted anything from him right now- all he knew was that he felt like he and Christian had some sort of future together. It was the strangest feeling but since the moment Christian had opened the door to him earlier this week he felt like their lives were destined to be interlinked. And all this from a guy who didn't usually plan what he was doing the next week, let alone look further into the future….

He really didn't know what he was doing here but the one thing he was sure about was he didn't want the night to end yet; he wanted to keep kissing Christian, wanted to keep getting lost in that man’s eyes. And, oh god, he'd done exactly what he promised himself he wouldn't do, he'd fallen heavily for this guy and he had absolutely no idea if those feelings were reciprocated.

The sound of a taxi blaring its horn broke him out of his thoughts and taking a deep breath he decided that it was now or never if he was going to take the plunge.

"So, umm, you wanna come back to mine? I'm not asking for... well. ...I just wanna hang some more.. . so... "

Steve hadn't realised how difficult this could be; the string of one night stands had been easy because both parties knew what they were looking for but he had no idea what Christian wanted from this.

Christian grinned broadly, he got the distinct impression that Steve was just as nervous as he was and he was hoping that he was feeling even half of what he was right now.

"Sure but don't you have a roommate? Come back to mine. I live on my own, no-one to disturb us there."

Christian cringed as soon as the words came out of his mouth; now Steve was going to think he was propositioning him and that was the last thing he wanted. OK he could admit that Steve turned him on more than anyone he could remember-male or female-but it was the connection of their minds he’d felt and was really interested in; a connection he'd never felt with anyone before. He didn't know what that connection meant but he did know he didn't just want a one night stand -as fantastic as he thought it might be-, he wanted much more from Steve and that both excited and scared him more than he was comfortable with. How the fuck could he feel like this after just a few hours in his company? His mama's words rang around in his head." You'll know when you meet the one.”

"I just.... m' not expecting anything.... . just so we can hang out... fuck, what m' trying to say is I don't wanna say goodbye just yet."

The smile on Steve’s face showed Christian he got exactly what he was trying to say and he was pretty sure they were both on the same page now. Steve moved toward him and once again kissed him gently on the lips, something shining in his eyes, something he couldn't quite place but something nevertheless. " Your place then?" Steve asked quietly, taking Christian’s hand and leading him to the taxi.

"Yeah, my place," Christian agreed, readily allowing himself to be led by Steve and feeling strangely comfortable with it.

And so their story began; the story of two beautiful souls who collided in an act of fate, whose lives became entwined in one another and whose music would touch many other souls across the world. The rest, as they say, is history....


End file.
